He was always disappearing.

She had known since a young age that stability was not something attributed with him. Even at 8, she had known that he never stayed in place for too long. Back then, she had been amazed by him. She found him incredible and fascinating. How could anything move that fast? How could anyone make her heart pound that painfully? It was mystical, like the wind; just like him.

Being alone was something she had grown up with. Distance was a large factor in their relationship. One minute he was beside her, barefoot and fingers locked in a firm hold and the next he was gone with a vibrant cobalt flash.

And so, she was lonely.

Her expression was dreamy. Her big doe eyes peered at him in pure awe. "You saved my life!"

His smile slid across, naturally. "It's what I do, Rosie."

"You can call me Amy." she blurted, a blush spreading across her muzzle like a single drop of blood into a bowl of milk. "My friends call me Amy."

He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Uh, alright, Ames-"

Her eyes got wider in astonishment. She was positively staring at him. How old was this girl? He looked her over, chastely, inspecting her as well as an eleven year old boy could. She had thin legs, big feet that pointed inward and a slim, flat chest - she was definitely a good deal younger than him. She looked goofy, almost - though she had really pretty eyes. They were this deep jade shade of green that he had never seen before, and he had seen a lot of things in his eleven years of life.

He tore his gaze away quickly from those pretty eyes. They made him feel weird and really warm, oddly.

"I like that name," she gushed, "Ames."

"It's a common nickname for Amy?"

"I like it. Ames. Keep calling me that."

He laughed at her enthusiasm. "Whatever you say, Ames. I'd love to stay here and chat, but I gotta jet. Places to save, people to meet, you know the drill. Later!"

The cute little girl went to object, but he had already winked at her and sped off, leaving her with only a trail of bold blue. Jade eyes traced after it, wide. "Oh, wow..."

She had become dangerously smitten.

"Stop moving! You're making this difficult."

He groaned childishly and squirmed. Moving the damp rag across the wound, the young rosette tilted her head to get a better view. Sonic sighed as she twisted his arm around. "Ames, I'm fine-"

"You're bleeding," she said, deadpan.

His eyes flickered over to her. She was wearing a frilly white nightgown that hugged to her slim figure. At thirteen, he couldn't help but inspect the curves - or lack of, therefor - that she possessed Of course, she was merely ten, and her legs were thin; her waist was slender and indented, but her hips were tiny and she was still flat as a board. Her quills fell across her shoulders as she tilted her head, still inspecting the damage. Her jade orbs flickered across his skin.

She was the prettiest little girl he had ever seen, despite her lack of... assets.

"How did you manage...?"

He grinned, remembering. "I ran into a tree."

She shook her head at him. "You're such a clutz, Sonic..."

It should have been degrading to have gone to a younger girl, barely in her double digits, for medical help. He should have been able to take care of it himself... well, he had tried, actually, but Amy, being herself, had stumbled upon him and dragged him back to her house, preaching about treating wounds before they got infected or something, and he wasn't paying attention because he was looking at a pretty older girl with long blonde hair and huge boobs...

He shook his head. Amy did want to be a nurse - and his wife, but whatever - so she had to know something about minor cuts.

He trusted her, anyways. She was Amy. She wouldn't kill him, she wanted him alive.

"You're not my girlfriend!"

He almost couldn't stand being pursued by a younger girl. He was 14, and he was hot - or so he was told, but he kinda believed it, judging by the legions of screaming girls that appeared whenever he walked outside - so why did his number one fan have to be so young? She was annoying; she was always lecturing him about their marriage, asking him on dates, proposing marriage... why did girls have to be so weird? Usually, girls excited him, a bit. Especially the pretty ones who were soft in all the right places.

But Amy? She was eleven. She was eleven and shaped like a young girl still. Her feet were pointed inwards and she looked foolish. She was obsessive and possessive, and she didn't like to take no for an answer.

She was persistent, that was for sure.

So would making a scene solve this?

She slid her hands on her tiny hips. "Sonic, don't be stupid-!"

A group of people congregated around the two. Sonic sighed. "Just go home, Amy!"

And with that, he tore off down the road, breezing past a group of squealing girls that looked around his age; he craned his head back to get a better look at them. Maybe if Amy wasn't hot on his tail, he could talk to them... but he couldn't. Amy got real ugly when she was jealous.

Well, as ugly as Amy could get.

He firmly believed that she didn't really love him. How could she?

She was twelve years old - she had no idea what love was. You don't fall in love at that young of an age - she had been prying after him since she was 8, and that was much too young to know what love was. Heck, he was 15 and he hadn't the slightest clue what lovereally was.

It was fickle; it devoured people's lives. He didn't want that. He loved his freedom, he valued it. It meant the world to him, because when he had been her age and had no parents around to guide him he had been on the road, teaching himself how to fend. He'd been free for as long as he could remember. He didn't know what love was; he never stuck around long enough to find out.

She just liked his fame, like all the other girls. They liked what they thought he was; they didn't know a thing about him, when it came down to it.

He fiddled with the shell bracelet. It was so simple, he didn't understand why it brought him so much comfort. It consisted merely of shells strung along a new string. It surely wouldn't bring him any protection, that was just bizarre...

His fingers rubbed against one of the shells. He could picture her making this for him, her tiny fingers weaving the string through the carefully drilled holes in the shells for hours, maybe, with her eyes focused on the bracelet. She was sitting there in her cute little bathing suit, showing off her gradually growing curves... her lips plucked together in frustration as she slid another shell on...

And the way she had presented it to him - she looked almost bashful, which was an adjective often not strung together with Amy Rose, who was passionate and bold and confident. She must have really meant this, it was heart felt and she had made it herself, obviously caring to a firm degree how he felt about the gift.

...She must have put a great deal of care into it. Was that why he couldn't bring himself to take it off?

A pile of hay had never been so comfortable.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, taking in a breath. The area smelt like newly cut grass and faintly of strawberries; the latter probably because the breeze was blowing towards him and Amy's locks of pink were blowing dangerously close to him.

Discreetly, he eyed the female beside him. Her red, stiff dress flopped in the breeze slightly along with her chin-length quills. He noticed that her eyes were resting solely on him. A bit of hay blew between them and landed on her lap. Giggling lightly, she flicked it off of her. He laughed a little; her tittering was contagious.

She flashed him a cute little smile. "It's breezy out."

"No kidding."

She shivered a little and scooted over to him. Normally, he'd shift away from her, terrified of any form of contact, but there was something about the way she giggled that made his heart race - the same sort of rush he received when he'd run away, just without the moving of his legs involved. She fluttered her eyelids at him; he was suddenly warmer than usual, despite the wind that was brushing against them. In all 15 years of his life, he'd never felt this way before.

She leaned her head against her shoulder, barely believing her luck. He never stood still. Never.

He fidgeted; he wanted to move, and yet at the same time he couldn't. It was like something was weighing him down, holding him in place as Amy rested on him, smelling like strawberries, almost good enough to eat... and for, the first time ever, he wanted to taste her.

She's 12...

"You... you..."

"Yeah, I'm leaving." he paused. "It's a mission... thing..."

Oh, don't cry... please don't cry, you know I can't take it when you cry...

Her eyes welled over with tears. He bit his lip to keep himself at bay. He wanted to reach out and hold her steadily quivering form, at that moment, but he knew it would only make things worse. Showing her affection was dangerous, because that would give her hope, and hope made her cling to him harder. She needed to learn to let go, because he wasn't always going to be around.

"Why?" she asked, tearfully.

With her heart in her mouth, she grabbed onto his hands. A jolt of feeling zipped across his being and he tugged against her grip, but she remained adamant.

"Because... I have a thing I have to do. Big evil tyrant guy... ya know the drill. Why does it surprise you?"

"It doesn't," she paused. "It depresses me. I don't want you to leave. I'll miss you. How long will you be gone?"

"...I don't know, honestly."

She made a strange sort of sound deep in her throat and tugged on his hand. He gazed down at her as she sniffled. He stared at her intently. Was she sick? Her nose was running and her eyes were a little red - signs pointed to yes. "Sonic..."

"You'll be fine, Ames." he reassured, gently. "You don't need me, you're 13 -"

"I love you." she confessed, gushing. He fidgeted and tried to weed his fingers away from hers, but they were tightly wrapped around his and there was no way he'd escape her grasp without distracting her first. So, taking in a deep, soothing breath to himself, he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. He leaded her so that her head was tipped back, making it more comfortable for himself.

She gasped and he felt her face explode with heat - she was blushing violently.

His lips slid across hers smoothly, as if he had done it a million times. Shocked, she dropped his hand and slid her hands up his chest and wrapped her arms across his neck. Escape was futile, at this point. She had him in her grasp and there was no way out.. and the craziest part was that he had absolutely no desire to leave. Her lips were soft and she tasted like ice cream and sugar and strawberries; she was sweet and delectable.

He groaned and sneezed again. He struggled to wipe his nose as he dodged a stray punch. His opponent, thoroughly talented and putting up a good fight, wasn't making this any easier on the blue hedgehog.

The speedster did a quick 180 turn and kicked the golden minx in the back. The male fell to the ground with a thud. Grinning, Sonic did a jump in victory and almost lost his footing as he landed. His head was throbbing and his nose was running profusely... and he had no voice.

Amy had gotten him sick.

Well, at least she's with me somehow...

"Hey, Happy Birthday!"

Amy clutched the phone closer to her ear. "Oh, Sonic... thanks. Where are you?"

"Holoska. I'm freezing my quills off here, Ames. You're lucky to be in Mystic Ruins, that's for sure. How's your day been so far?"

The newly-fifteen rosette pulled out some of the grass and tossed it in the air. The wind took ahold of it and it breezed back into her skirted lap. She was wearing a blue pleaded skirt and a white blouse. Her gray sweater vest lay discarded next to her, resting in the contrasting grass. Alongside her vest was her black penny loafers. She ran her finger along the end of her bold blue socks. Her school uniform; she had just gotten out for the day and had decided to visit Tails.

She laid her body down, still holding the phone tightly to the side of her face, as if she let go Sonic might disappear or something. "Pretty good. They sang to me today in Chemistry, and my guy friend asked me to go to this dance with him..." he didn't say anything. "...but it's a lot better now that you've called."

"Glad to make the day for ya." she heard him chuckle on the other line. She felt herself blush. He was probably smiling that smile that she loved so much, and for a second she imagined that he was here, laying next to her. His emerald eyes were beaming at her, and his hand held hers and lightly stroked her thumb. She was torn out of her girlish fantasy by the sound of his voice. "Did you say yes?"

"To what?"

"To your dance date... offer... thing..."

"Oh..." she pursed her lips. "I said I didn't know."

"You should go with him." he mused. "I mean, I'm never around, and waiting around for me isn't going to do you any good... you should move on."

She let out a breath. Moving on had never crossed her mind, she had never seen it as an option - she had always thought that if she was with anyone else Sonic would grow upset with her. But, here he was, telling her, basically, that she could go make out with some other guy and it'd be okay with him...

"Sonic, do you love me?"

He didn't say anything for a while. Amy bit her lip. If he didn't love her, then what had happened the last time they were together? Wasn't he kissing her - quite passionately and amorously, at that? She had been almost 14 at the time, but yet still 13 and barely a teenager... and he had kissed her with more feeling than any other girl she had seen him kiss. Was the boy that stole her lip virginity just that and nothing more? Didn't she mean anything to him?

"...More than anything in the world, Amy. I want you to be happy." he answered, finally.

His voice sounded so sure, so... so truthful... she smiled bittersweetly. At least she knew that he didn't regret kissing her, that there was something behind that kiss... "But I'm only happy with you."

"...But you're never with me, Ames. I'm never around. You can't be happy with that." he sighed into the phone. Amy twitched, imaging his breath exploding across her nose, imaging herself before him. He was probably taller than he was before; she simply adored tall boys. She jumped as he continued. "Amy, I want you to be happy, more than anything. You... I don't know when I'll be back, Amy. Hell, I don't know if I'll ever be back. What if I die out here?"

"Don't say that."

His voiced raised a little. "Amy, I could die. I'm not going to lie to you and put a silver lining where it isn't. I could die. What would you do then?"

She closed her eyes and exhaled evenly. "I'd kill myself."

Silence.

"Amy Rose, don't you dare ever say that again." His voice was solemn. He sounded almost angry with her - almost. There was still a certain compassionate tone in his voice that captured her attention. "If I die, you shouldn't stay hung up on me - and, for God's sake, if you kill yourself... I can't even think about that. No. I try and work so hard to keep the world safe for you, you're what keeps me going."

"But you're my entire life, Sonic." she gushed, opening her eyes and sitting up, suddenly. "You can't make me move on when I'm not willing!"

He chuckled a little, bittersweetly. "I'm not your boyfriend, Amy. You can't pretend to me with me if I'm not pretending to be with you."

"But you love me..."

He sighed again, Amy wrung the hem of her skirt in her hands. "I love you enough to let you go. Go with him to the dance."

Dial tone.

"Sonic?"

"Yo!" he grinned.

The elder rabbit smiled genuinely, her features warming at the sight of him. Sonic took in the moment to take in her appearance; she had aged but still looked beautiful. Her warm chocolate eyes, though aged still shone with a maternal affection, peered down at him. He was significantly taller now - basically at her height. She was wearing a knee-length ivory skirt with warm chocolate-shaded trim and a modest blouse. Vanilla had always been beautiful; he caught a glance of her daughter, peeking in behind her. How old was Cream now? Ten?

"Hello," she began. "Are you looking for Amy, by any chance?"

He must have been blushing - Vanilla was smiling knowingly. Oh, she knew. She knew so well. She had always seen through his facade of intolerance towards the rosy rascal since day one. She was an adult and a mother; she understood children more than any of the rest of them. She understood awkward teenage boys with massive crushes on younger girls who were too determined for their own good.

"I... uh..." he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah."

Vanilla gave him a soft nod of her head, not yet moving away from her post by the door. "She's getting ready for prom. She has a date, now, Sonic... so behave yourself, alright? It'd be a shame for her to cry tonight."

Something twitched inside of him. He shouldn't be mad; he told her she could date other people. He was the one who let her go. But still, the idea of any other man holding her close to their body, of breathing in her intoxicating, engulfing scent... of laying her down on their bed, planting kisses all along her steadily exposed body - things he couldn't have done with her when he had her, since she had been just so young at the time. He nodded his head, numbly, shaking away thoughts of Amy in any state but dressed. Oh, there was no way she was indulging in that kind of behavior. Not Amy. Not his innocent Amy, not his angelic, perfect Amy...

"Is that him?"

Her voice was like music to his ears. Three years had been much too long. It filled him with questions and needs and answers and all he wanted was to race up the stairs, tackle her forcefully and greedily bury himself in the feeling of her skin.

"No," Vanilla called. "He's not here yet, Amy, honey."

The creaking of boards upstairs made Sonic's ears tingle with heat. She was so close, he could actually hear her movements - something he had been denied for three long, obnoxious years. "I probably shouldn't go see her, huh?" he asked in a low voice. Vanilla shook her head.

Cream squealed. "He's here!"

Sonic's expression morphed into an awkward, stern deadpan flat line. He stared at the door, imagining that the sad excuse for a man who had somehow managed to get a date with Amy Rose was going to run off and he'd be able to sweep Amy off of her feet again... but then he bit his lip. If he made Amy happy, well... if he could treat Amy right and be around for her the way he wasn't, was there any excuse to hate him?

I love you enough to let you go...

...So why did his chest clench when he walked through the door? He was handsome. He looked about Amy's age - sixteen, wasn't it? - and had a marvelous build. He looked like a jock, certainly. Of course Amy managed to get a football player. Of course. With eyes like Amy, it was surprising she hadn't captured his hand in marriage yet.

The mystery boy stared back at him. "Who's this stiff?" he asked, gruffly. Sonic lowered his eyes. Didn't like him already.

"I'm, uh... Amy's brother." he coughed, lying through his teeth bleakly.

They both turned at the sound of footsteps down the stairway. Both of their attention rested on the rosette as she descended the stairs elegantly. She had never looked so radiant in her life - that red dress did her figure wonders. It clung and complimented and hugged to everything she had rightfully earned over the years; Amy had always been thin and pixyish, where as the only other girl around her age was Rouge, which was degrading and made her moderately self conscious in her youth... but not tonight. She looked completely comfortable in her skin, and that dress looked like it had been sewn onto her body.

Perfect.

It was red and fitted at the top, hugging her slight curves. Lace surrounded the very tip-top of the dress, accentuating her bust appropriately. By her right hip there was a rose-shaped synch, and underneath was waves upon waves of red, ruffly lace that traveled down to the floor like a gown. Her quills had grown past her shoulders now and rested at the end of her shoulder blades. They were waved lightly and her old red headband had been replaced by an adorable ruby red ribbon tied to allow her quills to fall over her shoulders like precious silk. Mascara had been applied to her eyelashes, along with light pink eyeshadow and radiant red lips.

Red lips... oh, red lips had always been a weakness of his, a dangerous turn on.

At first, she smiled lightly at her still-nameless date. Her eyes scanned the area. She gave a giddy smile to Vanilla, a nervous one to Cream... but when her eyes met his, she seemed to freeze for a moment. It was almost like time froze - which Sonic was okay with, because as long as she was staring in his eyes, she was, mentally, far away from her date. She still wasn't over him. He could see the same longing and passion in her jade eyes that he had seen since day one.

And her eyes never left his as she finished her decent. Even as her date walked over and pinned the corsage onto her wrist, her eyes still sought out his, her lower lip plucked out in an adorable sort of pout. Well, she seemed to say. How do you always manage to show up at the worst times?

He needed to be with her. Those eyes... they drove him crazy. Everything about her turned on parts of his brain and body that he hadn't used since he left, since that heartwarming, mind-blowing kiss with her three years ago. He ambled over to her; she had grown a little taller but still remained petite. She was cute that way; he loved the way she stared up at him. "Excuse me," he addressed. The date glanced at him. "May I?"

Reluctantly, he backed off. Amy gave him a questioning tilt of her head. Bowing over, he pulled Amy into his arms briefly, knowing that Vanilla was giving him a scolding look in the back of his mind somewhere but shoving it aside for an abridged moment with her in his arms. She gasped a little and he made an extra effort to shield her glowing face away from the clueless sap standing mere feet away from him. He lowered her head and rested his lips near her trembling ear.

"Meet me at midnight in Mystic Ruins."

Wandering in the dark had never been a hobby Amy Rose was keen on. The darkness had always frightened her - in the dark, you couldn't see far ahead of you. Amy had plans. She didn't like not knowing where she was going. Her future was set out in front of her and on a clear-knit path.

...and yet, here she was.

She winced and kicked her heals off. They were pinching her dainty feet anyways. Picking them up, she dragged her aching feet across the damp grass. Had it rained and she didn't notice? She didn't explore the caverns of her memory. At that moment, she was more reoccupied by finding Sonic. Oh, if he stood her up again...

She felt a warm sensation on her lips. She gasped and felt fingers pulling on her waist, palms resting there snugly. She wanted to cry out in fear, to push away whoever it was that was kissing her in the dark but she couldn't bring herself to. Something told her not to, something told her that this situation was completely normal... and yet, with Sonic in her lip, this was normal.

"Ames," he breathed. "God, you look..."

She should have been furious with him. She should have pushed away from him and screamed until her throat hurt, punched and kicked at him until she didn't have the energy to walk away. She should have cried until her eyes had run out of tears to release but Sonic's lips were just so convincing, so alluring that she couldn't bring herself to do anything but allow him to enrapture her lips in a passionate lock. His hands rested on her hips, bunching up some of the ruffles into his palms and then releasing it. Her hands moved their way up his chest before she leaned into him and laced her arms around his neck just like she had always dreamed of.

It was pitch black. Neither of them could see much of anything... not that it stopped them. Loving blindly was what they did best, after all. Loving blindly had brought a young Amy to run away from home in hopes of catching up with the fastest thing alive. Loving blindly had allowed Sonic the ability to admit to himself that Amy Rose meant a whole lot more to him than he had ever anticipated. Loving blindly and carelessly had brought them to where they were now - releasing passion and pent up lasciviousness in bursts and then spending substantial time apart before repeating the process time and time again.

Maybe it was unresolved sexual tension that made him think it was okay to lower his hands down to her firm, perky backside - or was it the way she gasped into his mouth? Was it the way she tasted? Was it the way her eyes glowed in the blackness that surrounded them? Was it the way she smelt - of punch and faintly of sweat and - mostly - strawberries?

What had made him forget how much he loved the way she bit down on his lower lip? The way she sucked on his upper lip and then picked up the bottom of her dress, breaking away from him completely? She silently beckoned him to follow her; they were moving. More private, hopefully? Were they really going to go through with this? She was only 16; he was 19... but something in that moment was just so perfect that he scooped her in his arms unable to wait for her to dawdle along.

Growing up, the spot under the trees had always been Sonic's favorite hiding spot. Amy had only found him once there, and that was because she followed him there. After that, he had made an effort to avoid the spot because she was always sitting there, waiting for him to show up.

In a gust of sheer, unmatched speed, they were in their secret spot.

He set her down on her feet. He went to pull her in for another kiss but she pushed away from him. Startled, he tipped his head in the dark. He heard a zipper and then a strange, almost-silent sound and then she grabbed his hand. "Promise me you love me."

They were probably moving too fast. But, then again, moving fast was the one thing he could do right without messing up. Speed was his talent; Amy understood that. After all, originally, it had been his speed that had caught her attention, at first. It had been his speed that had seeded her school girl crush on him, which had steadily flourished into a blossomed, passionate love for him... and he couldn't be happier.

"I love you so much it hurts to be away from you," he paused; she gasped and he smiled. Just what he was waiting for. "Every day away from you was like a nightmare. Do you have any idea how much of a blessing this is to be here with you instead of on the battle field? Sure, it's thrilling and all, but you - jesus, Amy, you've made me feel so many different things tonight and we've barely been face to face for half an hour."

"Sonic..."

His lips tingled. He loved the way she said his name. His foot caught against her discarded dress. "We can use it as a blanket, if we get too cold." he joked a little, earning a giggle. They moved together naturally, laying down on the soft, lightly damp grass, ignoring the new wetness of their fur. His lips captured hers again and she forgot how to breathe. He pulled away and she felt him grin against her lips. "Breathe, Ames. Don't croak on me."

"Sh...shut up - oh, Sonic..." she moaned. "Oh, god... Don't... don't stop..."

He had taken to lower his head down to her neck, breathing in her sweet scent and pressing butterfly kisses along it. He buried his head in the crook of her shoulder for a moment as his hand raised up to her bosom. He wanted to go gentle; he was afraid to hurt her. She was so young and innocently, surely this was her first time... it brought him an odd warmness to know that she had saved herself for him, even though, early on, he wanted nothing to do with the girl... and look at him now.

Luckily, it clasped in the front. He slid it off of her with ease and then pressed kisses all along her chest, lowering himself down to her breasts even. She gave a sensual moan, allowing herself to be succumb to her heart. There was no reasoning against it; she loved him with all of her being. She arched her back and gasped his name again. He whispered to her the way he always did, low and affectionate, in that tone that was reserved for only her... their bodies slid into place, positions filled, whispering and nodding at each other...

...and then they were one.

Daylight gleamed off of her fur like an angel. She was an angel. She was his angel.

His fingertips drew circles in her lightly dampened fur, rubbing against her back. She snuggled farther into her chest and he gave a contented sort of sigh. She was shivering, he quickly noted, so he pulled her closer than he had ever before and skipped his hot breath along her neck. She yawned lightly. "Morning..."

"...We probably should have talked before we made love, huh?"

She giggled a little. "Probably."

She didn't seem too offset by the fact that he hadn't given her an explanation yet. She seemingly was okay with the situation; she seemed comfortable enough, laying in his arms as bare as the day she was born. She opened her eyes - a glossy, lazy jade stare - and gaped at him. "You're not going to leave again, are you?"

He pushed her awkward bangs out of her eyes. Her curls had gone limp and now were weak, stringy waves that frayed everywhere but he still thought she was beautiful. Her fur had damp patches along her side. He ran his hands across her once more, taking in all of her softness and beauty as if he'd lose her again. "Not if I don't have to... and if I do I promise I'll come back."

"Really?"

"Really really."

She tittered into the morning breeze.

Yaaay. c: this is so old, I can't even...
Anyways! I might continue this, but I'm not sure. Might take some persuading and butt kicking. xD